BIO

Crystal Hartman (b. April 9, 1983, Durango Colorado, USA) grew up behind a jeweler’s bench at the mouth of a canyon in southwest Colorado. She began carving wax, cutting stones, and forming metal as a young child. After apprenticing with artist Stanton Englehart, she earned her BFA from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Recipient of a UROP grant for academic research on Femininity in Latin America, she cultivated a reverence for community and conversation. Hartman filmed professional and amateur skateboarding in Spain (2005-7), studied site specific craft in Thailand (2008), and founded/directed Durango Open Studio (2009-11, Durango, CO.) In 2011, the artist received the Merwin Altfeld Memorial Award for Storytelling in the Arts from the National Watercolor Association. Her artwork has exhibited at the Center for Contemporary Arts Barcelona, Spain, the National Palace of Culture, Sofia Bulgaria, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder CO, the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, Arvada CO, and the Denver International Airport, Denver CO USA among others. Her work can be found globally in arts and literary publications, as album art through independent labels, and book covers from Oxford University Press, London, and A5 Publishing, Madrid. Her sculptural jewelry designs, carved of sustainably-harvested beeswax and ethically cast in fine metals, have been featured in Art Jewelry Magazine, and exhibited at locations such as the Lilstreet Art Gallery, Chicago IL, Kathleen Sommers, San Antonio TX, and through the Society of North American Goldsmiths. Hartman currently lives and works in Urbana Illinois. Crystal offers workshops on Light and Alternative Photographic Processes each spring through The Farms: an Allerton Folk School.

Member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths

@CrystalHartmanArt

JEWELRY MAKING PROCESS

Through the lost wax carving and casting process I create elegant, strong, earthy stand-alone pieces and stackable stories. From beginning design to completion, each piece may take several weeks to months to finish, and is always tested for comfort and wearability as well as quality and character.  

Consciously living in reciprocity with the earth and kindness are at the core of my values and practices, I am committed ever to listening, learning, growing, and expanding community.

I donate quarterly. Currently donating to Wilderness Workshop, Jane Goodall’s Roots and Shoots, and the National Resource Defense Fund. Please be in touch if your organization would like to be considered for a donation.

MATERIALS

Carved primarily with local, sustainably-harvested beeswax.

Cast with reclaimed sterling silver, gold, and ancient bronze.

Sourced Stones are natural, post consumer, dead stock, conflict free and/ or mined and cut here in the USA.  Most of the turquoise that I work with has been cut by my father or brother in Durango Colorado. 

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Custom pieces, yes! Many of my pieces are customizable and can be made to order in another size. Custom Designs begin at $500. If you are interested in a custom design, be in touch here: info@crystalhartman.com

ART & JEWELRY AVAILABLE AT THESE LOCATIONS

COLORADO

Colorado Springs . Revolution Jewelry Works, 5928 Stetson Hills Blvd #110

Durango . Studio &, 1027 Main Ave.

Pueblo . Blo Back Gallery, 131 Spring St.

Silverton . K& C Traders, 1152 Greene St.

Telluride . Gold Mountain Gallery, 135 West Colorado Ave.

ILLINOIS

Chicago . Jackson Junge Gallery, 1389 N Milwaukee Ave.

Urbana . Bohemia, 135 West Main St.

IOWA

Des Moines Art Center . 4700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines

MONTANA

Whitefish . Going to the Sun Gallery, 137 Central Ave.

FIND ME ONLINE

Studio & Gallery . www.anddurango.com

Durango Silver Company . www.durangosilver.com

Instagram for brand new beauties… @CrystalHartmanArt

+ Hidden Gallery of Secret Art, Online Exhibition with Hidden Letters Film, hiddenlettersfilm.com